Ancona Ducks

[Alice28]

Well are yard isn't to big. We bought are first house a year ago so it's not are dream home with a huge yard, but we have room for some ducklings this summer when we get a fence around the front it will be perfect. I also have a home daycare so we are building a fence around the side yard which is a good size, for when I need them there and then the rest of the day they can be free until night. Then I will just have to hose **** down, literally, every night. But all worth it for my little ducklings

 

[Alice28]

Three will be just as stinky and messy as 2.  So I say the more, the merrier.  Unless you have a tiny yard, I doubt you'll regret getting that third duck.  Also, do you know what genders?  That may be a factor, too.

We want females for the eggs. The breeder says she is pretty good at sexing them, but nothing is certain with ducklings so we are aware we might get a drake. She came very highly recommended by my aunt and uncle who have had chickens for years now.

 

[ckoop7]

On Tuesday i should be getting a dozen eggs shipped to me and this is my first time incubating eggs. I have a forced air hova bator. I will be hand turning them using the pointy end down egg carton method as this seems to be more preferred with shipped eggs. My concern is if i should lay them on their side before lockdown or leave them in the carton? Everyone is saying something different and im just wondering what your experiences are. My other question is about humidity, alot of people say to have it at between 45-55% for the first 25 days and raise it to around 75% on the other hand alot of people are saying it has worked better for them when they kept the humidity lower and tried to do a dry hatch, I am concerned about these two things, i have had my incubator running so i can see how it runs and how to get it to the desired temp and things like that. If anyone has experience with hatching shipped eggs and how successful it was and what you did i would really appreciate it! Also i know this is probably a stupid question but is day 24 the last day you turn them and all of day 25 until they hatch you have them on lockdown or do you keep turning them on day 25 and then the beginning of day 26 is when lockdown starts?

 

[MightyDucksVT]

Just got my Ancona eggs in the mail this morning!!! I am letting them rest until late tonight and setting with no auto turn until tomorrow. This will be my first time too and I'm hoping for a 50% hatch rate but if even one makes it I will be happy.

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

I got 4 eggs just over 2 weeks so. I let them sit for 24 hours and now have 2 that are way more active then any embryo I've ever seen. I can't wait till they hatch to see what they look like. I'm also looking for some hatching eggs that aren't white. The ducks are my dh's and he wants colored eggs.

 

[peachncrm37]

On Tuesday i should be getting a dozen eggs shipped to me and this is my first time incubating eggs. I have a forced air hova bator. I will be hand turning them using the pointy end down egg carton method as this seems to be more preferred with shipped eggs. My concern is if i should lay them on their side before lockdown or leave them in the carton? Everyone is saying something different and im just wondering what your experiences are. My other question is about humidity, alot of people say to have it at between 45-55% for the first 25 days and raise it to around 75% on the other hand alot of people are saying it has worked better for them when they kept the humidity lower and tried to do a dry hatch, I am concerned about these two things, i have had my incubator running so i can see how it runs and how to get it to the desired temp and things like that. If anyone has experience with hatching  shipped eggs and how successful it was and what you did i would really appreciate it! Also i know this is probably a stupid question but is day 24 the last day you turn them and all of day 25 until they hatch you have them on lockdown or do you keep turning them on day 25 and then the beginning of day 26 is when lockdown starts?

I always go by the rule, if laying down for incubation, lay down for hatch. if set in turner or egg carton for incubation, set in egg turner/carton for hatch. I heard that changing the position CAN (but not necessarily) kill the duckling because it Is not able to deal with the change. my experience has shown if i follow that rule, my hatch rate is higher.

Everyone has their own method that they get comfortable with, you will eventually find yours. That being said here is how I incubate:

I dry incubate (humidity runs at 35-40% roughly, sometimes higher)
I have all eggs laying down
I hand turn 3 times a day
At day 7 to end I spray the eggs 3 times a day
I stop turning at day 25
At day 25 I monitor humidity and add water to get it between 60-70%
I spray the eggs up to hatch

 

[ckoop7]

I always go by the rule, if laying down for incubation, lay down for hatch. if set in turner or egg carton for incubation, set in egg turner/carton for hatch. I heard that changing the position CAN (but not necessarily) kill the duckling because it Is not able to deal with the change. my experience has shown if i follow that rule, my hatch rate is higher.

Everyone has their own method that they get comfortable with, you will eventually find yours. That being said here is how I incubate:

I dry incubate (humidity runs at 35-40% roughly, sometimes higher)
I have all eggs laying down
I hand turn 3 times a day
At day 7 to end I spray the eggs 3 times a day
I stop turning at day 25
At day 25 I monitor humidity and add water to get it between 60-70%
I spray the eggs up to hatch

So even though they are shipped it's okay to lay them down? Everyone is saying when they are shipped they need to be incubated upright. It's all very confusing haha, maybe I'll try a half and half and see how it turns out. In your opinion is incubating them upright when they are shipped eggs necessary? I have been very intrigued about dry hatching and it is already pretty humid where I am so I may try that.

 

[peachncrm37]

So even though they are shipped it's okay to lay them down? Everyone is saying when they are shipped they need to be incubated upright. It's all very confusing haha, maybe I'll try a half and half and see how it turns out. In your opinion is incubating them upright when they are shipped eggs necessary? I have been very intrigued about dry hatching and it is already pretty humid where I am so I may try that.

That is mainly because of detached air cells. Do you have any that have those? If so go ahead and incubate upright, just make sure to leave them upright for hatch as well.

No, I don't think it's necessary. I've had detached air cells, and still had them live laying down.

I live in Florida, so we have high humidity here, lol. So dry hatching is easier. However, when I first started hatching I ran humidity pretty high during incubation. I've tweaked things since then until I'm comfortable with how I hatch. You'll do the same

 

[learycow]

I always go by the rule, if laying down for incubation, lay down for hatch. if set in turner or egg carton for incubation, set in egg turner/carton for hatch. I heard that changing the position CAN (but not necessarily) kill the duckling because it Is not able to deal with the change. my experience has shown if i follow that rule, my hatch rate is higher.

Everyone has their own method that they get comfortable with, you will eventually find yours. That being said here is how I incubate:

I dry incubate (humidity runs at 35-40% roughly, sometimes higher)
I have all eggs laying down
I hand turn 3 times a day
At day 7 to end I spray the eggs 3 times a day
I stop turning at day 25
At day 25 I monitor humidity and add water to get it between 60-70%
I spray the eggs up to hatch

That's funny you say this! I also hatch the way they are incubated (talking about position)
I usually use my Sportsman and have them in trays upright for the turning. When I put them in the hatcher, I simply take the tray out of the incubator and place it in the hatcher. So the eggs don't even move usually. They seem to do just fine hatching that way, though I do check them many times throughout the day as I've had some hatch upside down. I had one hatch this way that I didn't realize and it didn't make it (I think it suffocated). So now when they go in the hatcher, I candle to check for pips. Any that are moving but don't show pips get marked and then I check those more than the rest to be sure they don't hatch upside down in the egg tray

 

[ckoop7]

That's funny you say this! I also hatch the way they are incubated (talking about position)
I usually use my Sportsman and have them in trays upright for the turning. When I put them in the hatcher, I simply take the tray out of the incubator and place it in the hatcher. So the eggs don't even move usually. They seem to do just fine hatching that way, though I do check them many times throughout the day as I've had some hatch upside down. I had one hatch this way that I didn't realize and it didn't make it (I think it suffocated). So now when they go in the hatcher, I candle to check for pips. Any that are moving but don't show pips get marked and then I check those more than the rest to be sure they don't hatch upside down in the egg tray

How do you tell if they are piping upside down? This is the only thing I'm worried about with hatching in a carton so I want to make sure I know what to look for in case they hatch upside down I don't want to lose them